This report came to me some years after the original incident, which occurred in December, 2006. The witness, a professional accountant who asked to remain anonymous, was busy putting up Christmas decorations around his mobile home near Entrican, close to the center of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula when an unexpected visitor showed up. And no, it wasn’t Santa.

To give you an idea of this locale, Entrican is a tiny community in the middle of Montcalm County, surrounded by creeks. Indianhead Lake lies a few miles to the northwest, with state game areas close by. It’s a good environment for wildlife. The witness has since moved from the area, but here is his story, edited only for clarity and the inclusion of details added in my subsequent interview with him :

“Ms. Godfrey – You’re going to think I’m crazy. I know I would – I need to tell someone. I was living in a single-wide mobile home in central Montcalm County Michigan. It was near a crossroad called Entrican and I just moved down from Tok, Alaska.

I was living alone with two cats and I just decorated for Christmas––putting up the tree, lights, general stuff like that around the house. I had a big picture window looking out to my wooded backyard with a stream about 100 feet from my trailer. You could see the Christmas tree in the window; it was beautiful it looked just like a Christmas card if you could see it from the woods out-in-back.

You have to understand Ms. Godfrey, I deal in facts at my job and I have an MBA in Accounting. It is difficult for me to relate this to anybody. I saw this not only once but three times in that Christmas season.

It was about 11:00 the first night; I was watching the news so it had to be around that time. The picture window was not draped because of the woods; I liked to see the stream and the forest out the window. It reminded me of my home back in Alaska. The cats were a little antsy that night, darting back-and-forth under the tree, looking out the window. I thought there was a deer or a black bear out in the woods–it happens more times than not Ms. Godfrey; that is one of the reasons why I rented this trailer. I glanced out the window and there it was. It looked like a wolf and it was right outside the picture window, so much so the snout hit the window. It was watching my cats. It didn’t take any notice of me until I walked up to the window.

It was looking at me and I was watching the–for a lack of a better word–wolf. We were staring at each other for about five minutes. It had a canine appearance but was bigger than any dog or wolf I have ever seen. Do you know that 80s movie, ‘The Howling?’ It looked in the manner of that, if I had to say. There was one difference, though; it did not seem evil or menacing. I’m very confident in saying that it looked like every other animal in the forests. It had a very domestic dog-like appearance. It had dark, matted fur and those eyes Ms. Godfrey; I felt those eyes had lucid thought behind them.

It didn’t seem malicious and the cats were right by me looking at it. The cats sensed it out in the woods before I saw it. The cats didn’t ‘puff up’ so I don’t think it frightened them, but they knew something wasn’t quite right.

Then the strangest thing happened; it turned around and walked on two legs back to the woods. It was up on its hind legs and didn’t drop on all fours. The first thing I thought was [that it must be] kids. I started to think better of it and it was annoying not to know about what I just witnessed. You know what I am talking about, the little thing in the back of your mind saying ‘Hold on, what just happened’?

Well Ms. Godfrey, I was not going to get any sleep that night until I found out more. I got dressed, put on my coat and got the flashlight. There was a moon out and I could see everything till I got to the woods. There was paw prints from the stream to the trailer and back to the stream again. These were huge paw prints not like any wolf or dog and they were only two sets of them, not four. Didn’t think about photographing the paw prints or measuring them. They were coming from the stream.

I walked up to the picture window; the paw prints stopped and I looked up to the window. My cats were watching me from inside the trailer and I notice the snout print on the window. It dawned on me that I was looking up to see the snout print. There is a dip in my back yard and the trailer was a bit higher than usual. I’m 6’4” and I still had to look up to see the print when I was right outside the window. It was about 7 to 7 ½ feet from the ground to the snout print. It was eerie to know that there was something not quite right out in the woods.

The Buck–and the Wolf–Stops Here

It happened again [twice] about two weeks later. The only thing I could think: It was using the stream and the Flat River for a road, and it was attracted to the Christmas lights in my picture window. It only pressed its snout against he window the first time. The other times, it stopped about 15-20 feet from the trailer, a good 70-75 feet from the woods. There was snow on the ground and it was a crisp, clear winter’s night. All three times.

All three times the Christmas lights were on, blinking slowly.

Interpretive photo montage by Linda S. Godfrey

Here is something else to think of Ms. Godfrey; about two, maybe three hundred yards down Grow Road is the Buck Stop Lure Company. Basically they sell deer pee in bottles. Maybe that is why it was around Entrican. I still don’t know what I seen that Christmas season but it was peculiar to say the least. I wondered what it was. I didn’t feel afraid. It bothers me, not that I saw something, but what it was. That is what annoys me to no end.”

Of course I did not think this man was crazy. I’ve heard too many similar stories.

I scarcely need to mention that this site lay deep within the heart of known Michigan Dogman territory. I did tell the witness there have been many other instances of upright canines (and Bigfoot!) peeping in windows of houses, sometimes even rattling the door knob or smashing against an outside wall. It also does happen that occasionally a Dogman will make multiple visits to a particular home. Adding strong lights to a lawn often helps, but in this case the creature seemed attracted to the colored, blinking lights.

And even though it seemed like it intended no harm, it may also have been interested in the cats. Or who knows, perhaps the nearby source of deer pee did have something to do with it.

Equally interesting is why the creature visited 3 times, then stopped (as far as the eyewitness knew). I also can’t help but wonder if the mobile home’s subsequent owners were visited, too.

As the song goes and this eyewitness found out, there’s no place like home for the holidays.